Combination gas and oil burner



March 3, 1942. J. s. ZINK COMBINATION GAS AND OIL BURNER "Filed May 17, 1940' 4 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 3, 1942. J, a HQK 2,274,818

COMBINATION GAS AND OIL BURNER Filed May 17, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 3 1 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION GAS AND OIL BURNER John S. Zink, Tulsa, Okla.

Application May 17, 1940, Serial No. 335,837

(Cl. l58--11) 8 Claims.

fluid forced in under pressure acts to rotate a member which in turn effects the induction of the air employed for combustion purposes.

An object of the invention is to provide a burner of this type which can be installed in the boxes having small combustion space.

Another object is to provide a fuel burner apparatus in which the heat release per cubic foot of furnace volume is greater so as to provide a larger burner rating.

A further object is to supply fuel burning mechanism which needs no radiant surface for complete combustion.

Another purpose of the invention is to furnish a fuel burning device adapted to create a forced draft to overcome draft loss through the burner, and which consequently requires less furnace draft, less stack and which is especially suited for balanced draft conditions.

A still further object is to supply fuel burner apparatus of the rotary type which can be easily removed for repairs, replacements, etc., of the bearing, burner pipes or the like. The construction is such that certain parts may be left in place to supply heat during repairing or replacement.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved apparatus shown removed from the furnace Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view partly in elevation of the device shown attached to a furnace wall; the section of the burning apparatus being taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 33 of Fig 2.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, 4 designates a furnace wall having an opening or port 5 for the introduction of the combustible mixture.

My improved fuel burning apparatus preferably comprises a stepped ring 6 (Fig.- 1) having a portion 1 shaped to be nested in the opening 5 and terminating in an inwardly extending annular flange 8 defining a circular opening 9 through which the air and fuel may enter the opening 5.

The ring 6 is also provided, outwardly of the portion 1 with air ports l0 and an inwardly extending flange H. The effective opening of the ports is controlled by a damper ring 12 which is slidably mounted on the exterior of the ring 6 and is provided with handles l3. Obviously the handles may be employed to shift the ring I2 to admit more or less air through the ports H].

To facilitate removal and replacement of parts, a plate [4 is detachably secured to the flange II by any suitable means, such as bolts 15, and this plate is provided with a central opening [6 to accommodate an anti-friction bearing structure I! of any suitable type. The structure I! has a flange l8 which closes the opening l6 and is secured to the plate M by bolts l9 or the like.

The structure [1 supports a hollow shaft 20 terminating at the outlet end of the burning apparatus in a turbine wheel 2| which is relatively small in comparison with the area of the opening 9. While such wheel may be of any suitable structure, I prefer to make it in the form of a disc 22, fixed at its inner end'to the shaft 20 and provided atits outer end with a rim 23, from which vanes 24 project. These vanes are acted upon by jets of fuel gas issuing from openings 25 provided in the radial extensions 26 of gas-conveying pipes 21. Such pipes are preferably arranged in a circular series about the shaft 20 and are slidably supported by the plate l4; Each extension 26 has its outer end portion connected to its supporting pipe by an elbow joint 26a which is joined to the pipe and extension by threaded connections. The inner end of each extension is plugged as indicated at 2%.

A manually controlled valve 28 and a pipe coupling 28a are interposed in each pipe, and all of the pipes are connected to a manifold 28 having an inlet 30 through which fuel gas is introduced under superatmospheric pressure. Obviously the gas so introduced will flow through the pipes 21, 26 and the ports 25, and the jets issuing from the ports will impinge against the vanes of the turbine wheel so as to rotate. the latter. As the wheel is fixed to the shaft 20, the

shaft will also be rotated, and this will cause a fan 3| (secured to the shaft) to draw air in through the ports I!) and force such air against the rear face of the disc 22 and through the space between the turbine wheel and the flange 8. Thus air will not only be induced into the apparatus but it will serve to cool the'turbine wheel and to keep the heat away from the bearing structure IT.

For the further protection of the bearing structure, I arrange on the shaft 20 a shield 32 which may consist of spaced substantially conical plates 33 and 34. air traveling toward the fan can pass between the plates for the purpose of cooling the shield.

In order to provide for the use of an oil fuel with or without the gas, I arrange a bracket 35 at the exterior of the plate l5. Such bracket is provided with a bearing ring 36 for the rigid support of the inlet end portion 31 of a pipe 38, through which oil and steam may be conducted to a burner head 39. It will be noted that the pipe extends through the shaft 20 but is of smaller outside'diameter than the inside diameter of the shaft, so that air may travel through the annular passageway 49 thus formed, not only for cooling purposes but to supply air to the central portion of the turbine wheel, and consequently to the oil and steam issuing from the head 39.

Any suitable means such as a screw 4| may be employed to secure the pipe 31, 38 to the bearing ring 35, and if such screw is loosened, the burner head 39 may be adjusted relatively to the turbine wheel, or the parts 31, 38 and 39 may be entirely removed from the apparatus.

Steam and oil are supplied respectively to the portion 31 of the pipe 38 by means of tubes 42 and 43, each of which may have interposed therein a hand controlled Valve 44.

In operation, it will be understood that fuel gas will be introduced into the manifold 29 at a suitable superatmospheric pressure and it will flow therefrom through the pipes 21, 26 to the ports 25. In issuing from such ports, it will impinge against the blades of the turbine wheel and cause the latter to rotate. The vanes will set up a disturbance at the periphery of the turbine wheel which will result in thoroughly mixing the gas with the air drawn in by the fan 3|.

During such operation the oil burning equipment may or may not be used, and of course,

where necessary the oil burner may be employed independently of the gas burning portion of the apparatus, because the mixture of oil and steam flowing from the head 39 will induce a current of air through the passageway 49 for combustion purposes.

Heretofore it has been proposed to pass gas under pressure through a Wheel for the purpose of rotating the same, and thus causing the gas to mix with the air induced, due to the rotation of the wheel. My apparatus is an improvement over the known structures in. many respects. It eliminates a stuffing box usually employed. It enables one to use a combination of oil and gas simultaneously. It is much lighter in weight, especially the turbine. It provides a disposition of the bearing further away from the flame thus providing a cool running bearing. As the turbine Wheel is lighter and is of smaller diameter, it has advantages over the larger wheel, because with the larger wheel, carbon depositing thereon has a greater tendency to unbalance the turbine during rotation, and effects a detrimental wear on the bearings. I eliminate this disadvantage.

My burner is preferably installed in furnaces having such a rating that a burner will not operate unless a fan produces the required draft. My apparatus utilizes the kinetic energy of the gas completely for the aspiration of all air, providing a better ratio of gas and air.

As the plates are spaced,

The valves 28 of my apparatus control the gaseous fuel supply pipe to regulate the flame. By means of such Valves I can shut off gas to one or more of the pipes 21, and this is particularly advantageous where the temperature in the fire box becomes too high. By turning off the required number of valves, I can control the heat accordingly.

The body of the turbine being of disc-shape, acts as an air diffuser for directing the air into the gas streams between the vanes 24 which causes a burning of the gas closely adjacent to the ports 25.

The apparatus provides an unusually large quantity of heat for a small burner, and will operate with a low natural draft and low furnace pressure.

Moreover, all the moving parts that are subject to wear in this apparatus can easily be removed while the burner is in service either as a gas burner or oil burner or as a combination burner. In this connection it will be observed that even if the fan 3|, bearing structure I! and turbine wheel 2| are removed, the apparatus will still function as a fair burner because the gas jets or the oil burner head can still be employed while the plate I4 is slid toward the left in Fig. 2. This is a meritorious feature, as burners of the type which I have improved are generally employed in furnaces operated continuously for months at a time.

Instead of introducing fuel gas into the manifold 29, steam under pressure may be introduced while the oil burner is in operation, and due to the separate shut-oil valve 28 in each pipe 21, some of the jets 25 can be closed off when the turbine wheel is being drivenby steam. In this connection it will be noted that the total area of the gas ports 25 is several times the total area of the steam ports necessary for the issuance of steam when the latter is employed as a driving agent.

My burner is of the proportioning type. That is, as the gas is turned on the impact turbine is driven faster and the fan 3| draws in air in proportion as the gas is consumed.

Another very important feature of my burner is that the gas jets can be removed for cleaning or for installing new jets of larger or smaller area even when the furnace is in service. This is accomplished by removing the bolts I5 and sliding the plate |4 toward the left. Then an operator after closing avalve 28 in aparticular pipe, may remove that pipe by uncoupling the coupling 28a, and subsequently removing the uncoupled pipe from the casing. This can beaccomplished if the operator wears asbestos gloves.

Due to the fact that each extension 26 is connected to its own elbow 2612 by a threaded connection, the angle of the gas jet striking the turbine wheel is adjustable; thus, the speed of the turbine can be adjusted to accord with the pressure and specific gravity of the gas so that the burner can be adjusted to correctly proportion the air drawn in by the fan 3|. In this way perfect combustion may be maintained.

Furthermore, it will be noted that my apparatus operates on the power impact principals, using stationary gas jets as compared with the prior art which utilizes a reactionary principle with rotating gas jets.

While I have disclosed what I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, and have stated a number of advantages thereof, I am aware that changes may be made in the details illustrated without departing from the spirit.

of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A fuel-burning apparatus comprising a casin having an air inlet and an air outlet, a turbine wheel arranged adjacent to the air outlet, a series of pipes for conducting fuel gas under pressure to the turbine wheel to cause rotation of the latter, a bearing structure secured to the casing adjacent the air inlet, a shaft supported by the bearing structure and to which the turbine wheel is fixedly'secured, an air fan fixed to the shaft between the bearing and the wheel, and a separate control valve associated with each of said pipes to control the gas flowing through the pipes.

2. A fuel-burning apparatus comprising a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a turbine wheel arranged adjacent to the air outlet, a series of pipes for conducting fuel gas under pressure to the turbine wheel to cause rotation of the latter, a bearing structure secured to the casing adjacent the air inlet, a shaft supported by the bearing structure and to which the turbine wheel is fixedly secured, and an air fan fixed to the shaft between the bearing and the wheel, said shaft being of hollow construction to permit air to flow therethrough toward the turbine wheel.

3. A fuel-burning apparatus comprising a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a turbine wheel arranged adjacent to the air outlet, a series of pipes for conducting fuel gas under pressure to the turbine wheel to cause rotation of the latter, a bearing structure secured to the casing adjacent the air inlet, a shaft supported by the bearing structure and to which the turbine wheel is fixedly secured, an air fan fixed to the shaft between the bearing and the wheel, said shaft being of tubular construction, an oilconveying tube of smaller outside diameter than th inside diameter of the shaft extending through the shaft, and an oil burner head secured to the outlet end of the tube and arranged adjacent to the turbine wheel.

4. A fuel-burning apparatus comprising a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a bearing arranged at one end of the casing adjacent the air inlet, a rotatable shaft having one of its end portions mounted in said bearing, a turbine wheel fixed to the other end of the shaft and arranged adjacent to the air outlet, a substantially circular series of fuel gas-conveying pipes extending into the casing and having discharge terminals extending inwardly toward the axis of the shaft, each of said terminals having a gas outlet arranged todischarge a jet of fuel gas against the turbine wheel for causing rotation of the latter, means for introducing fuel gas under superatmospheric pressure into said pipes, and an air fan mounted on the shaft between the bearing and the turbine wheel.

5. A fuel-burning apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which the turbine wheel comprises a disc bounded by a ring from which vanes project.

6. A fuel-burning apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which each of the pipes is provided with a control valve.

7. A fuel burning apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which the shaft is hollow to provide an air passageway leading to the turbine wheel.

8. In combination, a furnace wall having an opening therein, an oil and gas burning apparatus comprising a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a tubular member supported in the casing and having a turbine wheel fixed thereon adjacent the air outlet, controlled means discharging fluid against the turbine to cause rotation thereof, a fan fixed to the tubular memher in spaced relation with the turbine wheel JOHN S. ZINK. 

